Innovative Queenstown Project Profiled at International Health Conference

A Queenstown-based social enterprise has received international attention this month for its work bringing mental health education to remote and rural communities.

Anna Dorsey, Chief Executive and founder of Headlight was a speaker at the 24th International Mental Health Conference, held in the Gold Coast from the 7th to 9th June. 

Anna’s presentation “Helping a Town to Help Itself” highlighted the progress that the Headlight team has made in designing and delivering the GoodYarn Community programme. 

This peer-led mental health education programme was launched in Queenstown Lakes in 2021 to increase the mental health literacy of priority communities who were more vulnerable to mental distress since COVID. 

The programme provided people with increased knowledge, confidence and skills to support their mental health and wellbeing, and also helped them to support the mental wellbeing of friends, family and whānau who they were concerned about. The programme is still running in the Queenstown Lakes District and to date over 450 people from priority groups have participated in the training programme.

The conference was attended by over 400 delegates from mental health organisations around the globe including clinical services providers, government advisors and national advocacy organisations.

“The conference was an amazing opportunity to connect with other innovators and leaders who are working to improve mental health,” said Anna. “I had a lot of interest in the work we’ve been leading here in the Queenstown Lakes, which is unique to our district.” 

Anna also spoke to the journey that the Headlight team is on to make mental health education more accessible to other rural and remote communities, which was well received.  “I was able to connect with others who are seeking innovative solutions to increasing the resilience and mental health literacy of communities. By building connections and working collaboratively, we can achieve so much more.”

The conference looked at emerging issues in mental health including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the importance of ensuring a lived experience voice in all stages of programme design and how to grow a peer workforce in rural and remote communities to work alongside clinical services.

“There was so much valuable content that I'll be bringing back to the team in Queenstown, which I hope over time will benefit our local and NZ community in many ways.”

(On the world stage: Anna Dorsey addressing the 24th International Mental Health Conference on the Gold Coast this month)